CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 155Adrenal Hormones and DisordersHormonal and reproductive studiesStress Responses and Cortisol

Marked attenuation of ultradian and circadian rhythms of dehydroepiandrosterone in postmenopausal women: evidence for a reduced 17,20-desmolase enzymatic activity.

LIU, C. H., LAUGHLIN, G. A., FISCHER, U. G., YEN, S. S. C.·1990·The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
DOI 10.1210/jcem-71-4-900
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Circulating levels of adrenal delta 5-androgens [dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and its sulfate (DS)] selectively decrease with age in both sexes, while cortisol secretion remains unchanged. The mechanism(s) to account for this dissociation is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that a reduced enzymatic activity for delta 5-androgen biosynthesis may be responsible for this phenomenon by examining the ultradian and circadian rhythmicity (15-min sampling frequency for 24 h) of DHEA and cortisol and the responsiveness of DHEA, DS, and cortisol to human CRF stimulation and by the analysis of relative enzymatic activities in the biosynthesis of adrenal steroids in older postmenopausal women (PMW) and younger cycling women (NCW). Our data show that the timing of the circadian rhythm of DHEA secretion was not altered, but the acrophase amplitude was decreased (P less than 0.01) in aged PMW compared to NCW. While the pulse frequency of DHEA remained unchanged, the pulse amplitude was markedly attenuated in PMW compared with NCW (3.5 +/- 0.6 vs. 8.1 +/- 1.1 nmol/L; P less than 0.01). Correspondingly, the 24-h mean of DHEA was markedly reduced (P less than 0.001) in PMW (5.5 +/- 0.8 nmol/L) from that in NCW (12.1 +/- 1.4 nmol/L). For cortisol, all parameters were similar between the two groups. Thus, compared to NCW, the decline of circulating DHEA level in PMW was expressed by attenuations of pulse amplitude and circadian amplitude, without changes in the timing of the circadian rhythm or pulse frequency. Further, DHEA and DS, but not cortisol, responses to 8-h hCRF infusion were significantly (P less than 0.01) diminished in PMW. These findings together with decreased product/precursor ratios for DHEA/17-hydroxypregnenolone (P less than 0.01) and androstenedione/17-hydroxyprogesterone (P less than 0.05) suggest a reduction of 17,20-desmolase enzymatic activity in PMW compared to that in NCW. Steroid ratios for 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17 alpha-hydroxylase were unaltered. We conclude from these preliminary data that the disparity of DHEA and cortisol secretion in aged PMW is probably related to an intraadrenal event, resulting from a decrease in 17,20-desmolase expression, which governs the biosynthesis of delta 5-adrenal androgen.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1210/jcem-71-4-900

Cites

26 of 26 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
LIU, C. H., LAUGHLIN, G. A., FISCHER, U. G., & YEN, S. S. C.
Affiliations
University of California San Diego (US)
Venue
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Publisher
The Endocrine Society
Published
1990-10
Volume
71
Issue
4
Pages
900-906
ISSN
  • 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7197
DOI
10.1210/jcem-71-4-900
OpenAlex
W2054185347
Cited by
155
References
26
Citations by year
2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
FWCI
2.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Center for Research Resources (RR00827, M01RR000827)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-12303-12)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
dehydroepiandrosterone, DHEA sulfate, circadian rhythm, ultradian rhythms, postmenopausal women, 17,20-desmolase, adrenal steroidogenesis, cortisol, aging, 17-hydroxypregnenolone, androstenedione, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, pulse amplitude, acrophase, women's health
MeSH terms
Adrenal Glands, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Adult, Aging, Aldehyde-Lyases, Circadian Rhythm, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System, Dehydroepiandrosterone, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Menopause, Middle Aged, Steroid 17-alpha-Hydroxylase, Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review